1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to portable apparatus for cooling and heating air in a room or the like and, more particularly, to the cooling of air by using ice and ice water for cooling through a heat exchanger.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are essentially two types of systems for cooling air, the simplest is an evaporative air cooler where pads are soaked with water and a blower is used to blow air through the soaked pads. The air is evaporatively cooled as it moves through the soaked pads and is then blown into a room, a building, etc. This type of evaporative air cooling system functions relatively well in situations of relatively low humidity. As the humidity rises, efficiency of evaporated air cooling systems decreases.
The second general system of cooling air is a refrigeration system in which air is blown past evaporator coils through which a refrigerant flows.
An alternate system of the latter is the use of a refrigerant to cool water, and the chilled water is passed through coils and air is blown past the coils and heat is exchanged. The cooled air is then circulated through a building, room, etc. U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,129, the inventor of which is the inventor of the present invention, discloses two general types of cooling (or heating) systems having a generally horizontal configuration. Two types are illustrated, open systems in which the coolant medium is circulated and cooled and recirculated, and a closed loop type system in which a coolant medium is circulated through a heat exchanger and a separate medium is used to cool the circulating coolant medium.
The invention described and claimed herein includes a relatively small preferably circular portable housing in which is disposed a quantity of ice and cooled water. The ice cools the water, and a submersible pump is used to pump the cooled water to a heat exchanger. Within the housing is a separate chamber in which a blower and a heat exchanger are disposed. The pump is used to pump water from the melting ice through the heat exchanger, and a blower is used to pull air through the heat exchanger. The cooled air is blown into the room in which the apparatus is disposed. The use of hot water instead of cold water allows the apparatus to be used as a portable heater. The apparatus is vertically oriented and it thus rather compact.
Among the objects of the present invention are the following:
To provide new and useful apparatus for cooling a room;
To provide new and useful apparatus for cooling a room using ice and its melt water as a cooling medium;
To provide new and useful portable apparatus for heating and cooling using a heat exchange medium and a submersible pump and a blower;
To provide new and useful portable apparatus for holding a quantity of ice and its melt water and for circulating the melt water through a heat exchanger and a blower for circulating air through the heat exchanger and into a room in which the apparatus is disposed; and
To provide new and useful apparatus including a generally vertically oriented housing utilizing ice and its melt water as a cooling medium in the housing and a heat exchanger and blower disposed above the cooling medium for cooling a room.